The occlusion
has become contemporary identity of Nepal, where bandh, strike and halt are now
considered as common phenomena. Honestly, no one knows or assure when Nepal is
opened in full-phased manner. Uncertainty, impunity, insecurity, topsy-turvy,
mutiny, iniquity, conspiracy, imbecility, abnormality etc have observed as
chronic diseases of the transitional Nepal. The decreed diseases have proved
very unhealthy for the nation, due to the reason ongoing peace process and overall
affairs of state restructuring have pushed into limbo. The national peace has
been kidnapped, security is fragile and human and civil rights are in
criminal's captivity. Impunity is booming and security is in dying situation. The
occlusions syndrome has become the principle ethics to all oppositions or the
actors who differs from the ruling parties and its government. It does not
matter who are in opposition, but they perform the same manner and character without
considering their basic political ethics and ideology, while particular parties
or group comes into the opposition. The occlusions' culture is integrated in
Nepalese polity as a cyclic festival. All of them celebrate in same manner. Still,
there are little differences in the way of celebration; some do it with brutal
violence and some without. However, all politicians use to apply same methods of
occlusions to achieve their intended goals and purposes.

Shamefully, often
politicians loud bluntly to close all types of closures permanently, while they
remain in a part of ruling parties, but they declare vice-versa to open all
forms of occlusions in unblushing manner while they thrashed in opposition's
room. Unfortunately, many ethnic, regional, professional and others groups and
community also have learnt the same manner and ways to pressurize government.
Most of the opposition actors believe that occlusion is the only one perfect way
to demoralize the government and to achieve the vested interest in favor of
particular groups and community, ignoring the interest and need of the nation
and its' general people. Cogently, people are fed up with occlusion and also
forced to accept and suffer with its activities of bandh, gherao, strike, and
blockages.

In this regards,
all the times government use same haphazard formula to counter the occlusion.
The exiting security arrangement formula is mainly includes frequent useless mobile,
unscientific patrolling, defensive picketing, vip escorting, and paper reporting.
Generally, the prime purposes of the special security arrangement are to
minimize the impacts of such occlusion, support to maintain normalcy of the
general life, minimization of the threat of violence, and support the regularity
in daily life and services of the general people and system. However, the special
security arrangements are found ineffective, opprobrious and unproductive. The
so called special security arrangement is seen only somehow success in bias-
reporting, escorting of so called VIPs and
to drop and pick up them to and from office to residence, airport or to the
destination point of the official meetings and programs. The pseudoscientific security
management on such crisis day has frequently invited the causes of huge
tensions, damages, violence's and causalities, despite the facts the government
is being just limited to watch the situation in paralyzed manner. Does not it a
great strange as well as a pity?

Rather
considering the past experiences as serious lesson, our home security apparatus
has not taken yet any lesson to reform or restructure the so called special
tightens security arrangement to counter the occlusion. Nepal security system
is worsening and being operated without any seriousness and accountability. No
one knows who are accountable and how, exits saver confusions among them for
rights and duties. Except some
formalities, no one is accountable for anything. Everyone is found suffering
with responsibility shifting syndrome. It is not because our security
capabilities are poor but it is because the neurological system of our national
security has been paralyzed due to unprofessional acts and interventional
culture from the indoor and outdoor windows. So called seniors security masters
often attack bluntly in mechanic and engine of security system to deviate the
whole security system to fulfill only the vested interest of particular leaders
of party. There is nothing based on professionalism, and now operation and
management of security is carry through individualism of particular security
leader. Every leader believes on "our man is good man rather "good man is our
man". Therefore, it is not a justice to blame our security personnel for their
failure and ineffectuality of security to address the challenges and
difficulties of occlusion.

All the time, we
see either inactive or negative presence or found involves in useless activities
of our security personal during the bandh, strike, gherao and blockages. It is
strange, to know that no one has known or measured the significances of
presence and productivity of the special security arrangement from past
experiences. Everyone know about the defeat arrangement, although why did the
same strategy repeat since decades and decades? The continuation of such
failure arrangement means government are either totally failure or seems
indirectly in favor of such occlusion. In such situation people may think as
cheating or understand as fraudulence of government towards its people. People
won't believe on the statement where the government uses to pretend, they are
trying their best for betterment of public security. It is beyond the public
minds that why the government is not thinking about some other effective ways
of security arrangement besides repeated experiences of violent occlusion. Or
do we have the scarcity of experts in security system or is it a part of
strategy to a particular parties or leaders who want to prove the country
failure or occlusion is beyond control? The state must find the reality, if the
answers are in yes in wholesale than why the things not appear in those
countries that are also in similar situation? It seems neither government
itself nor its' mechanism are honest towards the betterment of existing
security system.

During the
strike or demonstration, both times we see the security personnel are enjoying
with peanut, cigarette, tobacco, jokes and popcorn in street stalls and mobile
shops. They found generally lazy, drossy, kidding or less active in the areas
where occlusion keeps less influences and other hand they gather together in
compact and defensive form all the time as looser, where they see more impact
of occlusion and presence of violent activist. Sometimes, even we see they
facilitate the occlusions' actors and activities by stopping and disturbing
general people from regular activities. In principal, occlusion demands
offensive security but we play in just opposite way. Gathering together in
compact form means, they are just prepared to protect themselves rather to control
the violent activities and assist in maintaining general normalcy for those
people and services that are in disfavor of occlusion. Honestly, it is a kind
of surrender to the anti-state forces. Most of the time, the mobilized security
troops just try to secure their presence in post- incidents phases e.g. after
burning of vehicles or well vandalized or someone has badly assaulted and the
guilty has gone away.

In fact, the security
personnel found themselves hapless because they have the duty without power,
answerability and accountability. The security personnel are found demoralized
and demotivated. They often suffer with poor resources and even lacking minimum
facilities, arming and technology. They feel fully unsecured to perform their
honest duty because any political stunts may create threat on their career with
forge or without any justification too. The chain of command is no more
functioning effectively, span of control is just limited in formalities, power
and authority is not assigned properly for rationale use, unwanted intervention
has become a part of commanding culture, security politics is criminalized, accountability,
responsibility and answerability are just survived in part of vocabulary and
academic lessons of policing.

In short, it won't
a surprise to illustrate that Nepalese security system is no more real security
in accordance with the conceptual and constitutional spirit. The overall
security system has become defunct and disable. The public trust over security
is mortifying. Many people have started to use illegal channels for legal
security service. The so called dada and dons have formally started their
business and actively involved in organized crimes and anticrime activities too.
The outlaw & restricted activities are flourishing day by day, ignoring
rule of law and existence of public security system. The bandha, strike, blockages,
blackout and torch rally, transport halt and damages and vandalization of
public and private properties have considered as among the common activities of
entire anti ruling agencies and polity. Thus, it is issue of serious concern
that why the Nepalese security is being failure, weak or disappear during the
occlusion?

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The culture of
security disappearance during occlusion is directly concern with capabilities
and legitimacy of government and also stamina to control anarchy and to
maintain good governance. Therefore, it must be addressed duly by talking
proper restructuring and re-engineering approaches in national security system.
The state must admit that traditional security arrangement has been totally
failed during occlusion and continuation of such approach may lead further damages
and causality of national strength. The security strategy planner must able to calculate
the situation of occlusion in advance on the basis of qualitative and quantitative
statistics. They must design and conduct proper feasibility cycle and detail
risk and threat of psychoanalysis before deploying the security in occlusion.
Further, Security system must be well informed about the potential strength,
target, pressure, possible activities of violence and other related
information, afterward counter occlusion program and strategy need to design on
the basis of ground reality rather to
deploy police personnel in haphazard style.

The state must
understand that only stochastic picketing, patrolling and useless roaming of
security vehicle are useless as now happens. The state must be able to provide
necessary security for those people and institutions who do not want to support
the occlusion. Just picking and dropping to VIPs are nothing signified and it
does not mean any security arrangement for the general public. Therefore,
security personnel must be properly equipped with accountability, strategy, armaments,
security related ICT, resources and insurances to counter any sort of occlusion
in full-phases manner.It should be
legitimately and legally provided to the each security personnel in clear and
well defined manner. Reward and performance, incentives and promotion, posting
and transfer must relate with performance in free and fair manner to keep
morale and motivation at highlevel. In addition to minimize and handle the
influence of occlusion effectively and efficiently through special security
arrangement, the security personnel should also know how to help anti-occlusion
people and group, at the same time public also must be empowered to know how to
take help from security system during occlusion to regulate and normalize their
daily life, services and common goods.. The bilateral cognitive coordination
must be based in natural manner between people and security personnel. Further,
government must take accountability of all rights things or wrongdoings that
may have occurred during the occlusion control. The culture should be ended to
constitute post occlusion commission and take action against the committed and
neutral security personnel on the basis of political prejudice. Obliviously, at
the same time, the human rights violators and unprofessional security activities
or actions must be panelized if it found with necessary evidences, otherwise, all
the time state must keeping up continue to promote the morale and motivation of
the national security forces.

Disappearing
security in occlusion is also associated matter with political ethics and
dignity of ruling parties and its' leaders, so they must be careful. They must
understand that disappearance of security means failure of governance and
presence of dexterous security mechanism is strong presence of government.
Therefore, they should apply major efforts to strengthen the security strategy specially
for occlusion; however it should not be helpful to turn as a form of confrontation
while dealing with occlusions, anyway. It is essential to understand that professionally
rich security systems have capabilities to check and control riots with minimum
causalities and less confrontation. So, Nepal government must learn and draw
seriousness over the issues of desired professionalization of existing security
system.

Therefore, Nepal
government should to start immediately the restructuring of national security
system by using security sector reform (SSR) approach. Government must change and
reform the existing imperfect and faulty legal, organizational, hierarchical,
technological, procedural, etc. provisions of national security arrangement; it
should start to manage in accordance with the need and desire of the nation and
its people. State must be able to provide clear-cut accountability with power
and authority to the all security personnel. The Ministry of Home Affairs, also
look and rethink over the existing involvement, efficiency, effectivity and
also carrying and delivery capacity of chief district officer, who are the
chief of district security system, to encounter thestate of occlusion. It is totally misunderstandings
of the government that only normal and arm police are the enough for the job
but the state have never cogitated about the importance of possible civic engagement
approach while making anti-occlusion strategy.

Security experts
describe that proper and balance civic participation in security system is a
most important step and it will help the national security to counter the state
of occlusion and also helpful to minimize its' effect.In addition, the effective and efficient
intelligence arrangement is equally important while dealing with occlusion, so
Nepal must be develop a common platform and mechanism where security related
statistics may interchange intelligently in time and duly to achieve better
productivity of joint security efforts to counter the state of occlusion. Presently,
there is huge gap and lapses in part of functional coordination and
professionalism among the security concerned agencies. Therefore, it must be
corrected in due time.In addition, the
state must marketwise adequately about the full security related laws,
arrangement and possibility of legal treatment to the general public in case of
any threat, causality or attack during the occlusion. Also, the state must secure
by full compensation, in case of state's failures against the assurances to
deliver minimum and basic security and services to their citizen.

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In last, fully responsible
and accountable governance and government, both are the essential conditions to
a successful security system. Indeed, the unusual disappearances or intentional
ignorance of prime duties and responsibilities of security personnel during
crisis or occlusion cannot be considered as a good symptom. No any capable
government and its citizen want to see the pathetic security situation during
the occlusion or the times of national desire. Therefore, the national security
leaders as well as high ranking officials must work hard to resolve the problem
properly, otherwise they should quite immediately from their public posts in ethical and moral ground, they have no more
rights to continue their jobs in status quo wretched security situation and to
watch the public grief's shamefully. In democracy, public liberty must not be
taken into captivity in the name of occlusion, so a successful state must be
capable to protect and preserve the full human and public rights. Also, the
state should able to provide enough facilities to their citizen to enjoy the
fruits of democracy without any problem and difficulties.

(Mr. Pushkar is a Peace and Conflict Management Expert and pay special
concern on National Security System of Nepal, khpushkar@gmail.com)

Mr. Pushkar was a DAAD fellow and studied research master in peace and conflict studies in Germany. Also, he holds an internationally honored first class master degree in public administration. He has participated in dozens of national and (more...)